Various cleaning articles have been created for dusting and light cleaning. For example, cloth rags and paper towels used dry or wetted with polishing and cleaning compositions have been used on relatively flat surfaces. But, rags and paper towels are problematic for reasons such as hygiene (the user's hand may touch chemicals, dirt or the surface during cleaning), reach (it may be difficult to insert the user's hand with the rag or paper towel into hard-to-reach places) and inconvenience (cleaning between closely-spaced articles typically requires moving the articles).
To overcome the problems associated with using rags and paper towels, various dust gathering devices having feathers, lamb's wool, and synthetic fiber brushes have been utilized for more than a century, as illustrated by U.S. Pat. No. 823,725 issued in 1906 to Hayden. Such dust gathering devices can be expensive to manufacture, and as such are designed to be cleaned and reused. One problem associated with a reusable dust gathering device is that such dust gathering devices may not hold or trap dust very well. Soiled, reusable devices are typically cleaned via shaking or through other mechanical agitation. This process is not entirely satisfactory as it requires an extra step during, interrupting and/or following the cleaning process. Furthermore, the attempted restoration of the device may not be successful, allowing redeposition of the previously collected dust.
To address the problems experienced with reusable dust gathering devices, disposable cleaning articles have been developed which have limited re-usability. The cleaning article may be used for one job (several square meters of surface) and discarded as being disposable, or may be restored and re-used for more jobs, then discarded. Traditional cleaning articles including feather dusters, cloths, string mops, strip mops and the like, are not disposable for purposes of this invention.
These disposable cleaning articles may include brush portions made of synthetic fiber bundles, called tow fibers, attached to a sheet as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 8,528,151. The tow fibers and sheets in such articles may be bonded together as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,712,578; 7,566,671; 7,779,502; 7,937,797; 8,151,402; 8161594, 8,186,001 and 8,245,349. Or the tow fibers may be attached to a plate as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,145,787. The cleaning articles may be manufactured using the processes disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,743,392 and/or 7,003,856.
Such cleaning articles, are often referred to as dusters, and may be made, for example, according to U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,813,801; 6,968,591; 6,984,615; 7,228,587; 7,231,685; 7,234,193; 7,234,914; 7,237,296; 7,237,297; 7,243,391; 7302729; 7,302,730; and/or 7,334,287 (having a common related application). The patents in this linage have a common feature—strips laterally extending from both sides of a generally planar article. U.S. Pat. No. 5,953,784 teaches strips extending not only from both sides of the article, but also from the front of the article. Other geometries include U.S. Pat. No. 7,566,671 which does not use laterally extending strips but cleans only from one side of the implement. U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,251,851 and 7,930,794 teach a handle for a duster and having a spiral configuration. Dusters which advantageously do not require gather strips are shown in commonly assigned: 2013/0232710A1 having differential overhang between the sheet and fibers; U.S. Pat. No. 8,893,345 having a sheet with apertures; U.S. Pat. No. 8,756,746 having an elastically contracted sheet; and 2013/0232706A1, having an elastically contracted upstanding panel or simply a non-planar structure, as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 8,763,197. The duster may provide for wetting as disclosed in commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 7,803,726.
A feature common to each of these varied and different constructions is joining of the tow fibers and sheets. Generally the sheet(s) provide a chassis to hold and contain the tow fibers. If fibers are not securely captured, by being joined to the sheet, tow fibers may dislodge and remain on the cleaning surface. Such residual tow fibers are undesired and often perceived as debris—which must be, yet, further cleaned. The cleaning process is thereby undesirably extended—by the very article used in the initial cleaning process.
This situation may be exacerbated by the packaging. Such cleaning articles are typically packaged in a flat state, but may be drawn through a dispensing aperture as disclosed in commonly assigned US 2014/0224698. Tow fibers may snag during dispensing, before the user even begins the cleaning process. These fibers may become loose and be the source of more cleaning.
Once dispensed, the situation may be exacerbated by the package instructions. To get optimum performance, a user should pre-fluff the cleaning article prior to use. Fluffing, as defined herein, is the process of increasing the apparent volume of the cleaning article without adding material to the cleaning article. Often the packaging instructs the user to fluff the duster prior to use. Or a cleaning article may be fluffed during manufacture, as disclosed in commonly assigned US 2014/0225291. The disruption to the tow fibers during fluffing, at either point of use or during manufacture, may cause even more tow fibers to become dislodged from the sheet. Again, the dislodged tow fibers may require even more cleaning to be done to account for tow fibers no longer attached to the sheet.
Thus, there is a need for a cleaning article which provides for secure attachment of tow fibers to a sheet and particularly to a nonwoven sheet. There is likewise a need for a manufacturing process/apparatus which provides for secure attachment of tow fibers to a sheet and particularly to a nonwoven sheet, such as may particularly, but not exclusively, occur through ultrasonic bonding.